preview

Essay on Examining Kurt Cobain's Personality

Better Essays

Personality theories attempt to identify the origins of personalty and examine how personality develops. Throughout the history of psychology, different psychologists have offered various personalities, each one contradicting some idea of the other. It is possible to examine personality using multiple parts of different theories, while certain characters may be best described by one theory. Although Kurt Cobain, a complex character, cannot possibly fit into any one personality theory perfectly, parts of his personality can be explained using theories created by Alfred Adler and Carol Rogers. Kurt Cobain was born on February 20, 1967, in Aberdeen, Washington. His mother Wendy was a waitress and his father Donald was a mechanic. His …show more content…

In February 1992 he married Courtney Love, and his daughter Frances Bean Cobain was born shortly after. In Utero, Nirvana’s second album, was released in 1993, and was more open than Nevermind. Despite all the success, Cobain’s heroin usage grew. He attempted suicide on March 4, 1994, but the incident was deemed an accident. On April 7, 1994, Cobain shot and killed himself. He left a note to his wife and daughter that ended “I love you, I love you” (personal communication, April 7, 1994). As a child, Cobain’s main influence was Evel Knievel, and he was determined to be reckless and fearless like his hero. As Cobain grew older, however, his influences became primarily musical, and included Neil Young, nicknamed the “Godfather of Grunge,” the Beatles, and various alternative bands (DeRogatis, para. 8). His major accomplishments were his recordings, as Cobain was known as a lyricist more than a musician, despite his short-lived career. Cobain’s personality fits rather easily into Alfred Adler’s theory of personality, especially in terms of style of life and birth order. Adler believed that “the individual creates the style of life,” rather than being a victim of fate (Schultz & Schultz, 2009, p. 137). He named four styles of life, dominant, getting, avoiding, and

Get Access